Gravity-conveyer.



No. 833,209. PATBNTED 0013.16, 190e.

c. o. HILER. f

GRAVITY CONVBYER.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 23.1906.

Fla.Y s.

a/LM,

lUNITED STATES PATENTA oEEIoE.

GRAVITY-CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application lied April. 23! 1906. SEI'LLSNO. 313,150

Patented Oct. 1.6', 1906.

To all whom it 11i/ay concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. HEER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oelwein, in the county of Fayette and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain lnew and useful Improvements in Gravity-Conveyers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as'will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to gravity-conve ers; and the object is to p rovide an efficient, urable, and ortable device by which boxes of merchan `se, freight, &c., ma be moved by their own ravityirom one p ace to another inf'reighteuses, warehouses stores, or on platforms,wharves, and even on -the ground. This and other objects .I attain by the novel construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 1n which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a line of my conveyer with some boxes of goods on. it. Fig'. 2 is an enlarged top or plan view of a portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diametrical sectional view of one of the studs and twoof the wheels used to support the boxes conveyed. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of lthe wheels seen at' the left end of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the adjacent ends of two of the supporting-rails detached from each other. Fi 6 is a modified arrangement of the carrier-wheels.'

Referring to .the drawin s by referencenurnerals, 6 desi nates the oor, platform, or ground, upon W 'ch 4is placed a row of suitable supports 7, which increase gradually in hei ht from one end to the other. Upon sai supports is placed a track made up of sections detachably hooked together, as indicated aty 8. Each section of the track is made up of two flat rails secured together by transverse braces 10, which may be bolts with twonuts aty each end or a flat bar riveted to the rails, as shown at 10 and 10a, respectively, in Fig. 2.

In the rails are secured studs 12, preferably having a shoulder 13 and a nut 14 to hold them firmly. Each stud is formed with an annular flfroove 15, meetin the grooves 16 in the wheels 17 and 18. aid grooves and the balls 19 therein form ball-bearings for the wheels to revolve very easily on. Every i that they revolve much easier than if made small enough to secure such short distance between their centers, 'and thereby between their tops, where the most possible unbroken supporting-line is desired, especiall for the transportation of small boxes. This advantage Inay also be attained by arranging the wheels zigzag, 'as in Fig. l6, in which case 4 they would be all of the type 18.

The wheels may be cast in halves or integral and the ball-bearingformed in any suitable manner; but I prefer to stamp the wheels out of soft sheet-steel of the required thickness and draw them by dies into the shapes clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and thenbolt the halves together, as at 23, in wheel 17 or rivet, as at 24, in'wheel 18, (both in Fig. 3,) with the studl 12 and balls 19in place. In the last-mentioned view it will be seen that the wheels are formed with faces 25 of so .considerable width that the wheels will not 4cut into the boxes or packages conveyed on them even if they are as heavy as the wheels and studs will stand.

In using the device the blocks or supports 7 may be made or selected of such increasin height as the topography and the desire The speed of the motion may require. track-rails may of course. be bent sidewise either in the making of them or b swinging gradually the sections to one si e, leavin the joint 8 unhooked and partl separate on the other or longest side of t le track, or

at the end of a straight line of'track another` line may be started 1n any direction.

` The means for elevating the goods or boxes to the necessary height for starting same on the conveyer need. not here be described, as they are usually already providedeither as hoisting devices, elevators, or inclines upon which the cars enter to deliver the goods, or especially short elevators or hand-power may be used.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A gravity-conveyer comprising inclined IOO IIO

rails with horizontal journals for Wheels or rollers; Wheels, sheaves or-rol-lers on the journels overlapping each other, every other wheel being rooved and thev next wheel@ narrow enoug to revolve with its edge in such groove.

2. .A gravity-eonveyer comprising inclinedv rails With horizontal journals for Wheels or rollers; Wheels, sheaves or rollers on the jour- 10 nals overlapping @aphother,l every other,`

CHARLES o. HLLER.

vVVi'tnesses.:

A. M: CARLSEN, JAMES E. TRAsK. 

